THE UK leaving the European Union without a trade deal would have “chilling effects” on both sides of the English Channel, a leading business figure has warned.
This stark warning, from Confederation of British Industry director-general Carolyn Fairbairn, comes ahead of a summit of EU member states this weekend to discuss Brexit.
The CBI highlighted a “very real shared interest in securing an ambitious deal between the UK and EU, rather than focusing solely on the divorce settlement at this early stage”.
It added: “With supply chains connected across the Continent, UK-EU trade is worth well over €600 billion each year. Compared to a one-off departure bill of, some suggest, tens of billions of euros, the economic case for making rapid progress on a trade agreement is clear.”
Ms Fairbairn said: “For both sides, leaving the negotiating table without a deal shouldn’t be ‘Plan B’ but ‘Plan Z’. Whether it’s tariffs or regulation, a no deal scenario would have chilling effects on both sides of the Channel. At the CBI, we’ve been meeting our peer business organisations from across Europe, convening a clear, European business voice and making these messages heard.”
She added: “In today’s inter-connected economy which relies on supply chains crossing borders and nations, our fates are intertwined. The business community – in the UK and the EU – is united in wanting an agreement with as few barriers as possible.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel